Kraftwerk pay tribute to Ryuichi Sakamoto with ‘Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence’ cover

Kraftwerk have paid tribute to the late Ryuichi Sakamoto with a cover of ‘Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence’.

The German electronic pioneers performed the track at Fuji Rock Festival in the renowned composer’s home country of Japan.

‘Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence’ is taken from the 1983 war film of the same name, whose soundtrack was the first that Sakamoto created in his illustrious career. Indeed, his soundtrack has been credited as one of the key reasons the film went on to become a cult classic despite mixed reviews from critics.

Sakamoto also starred in the film alongside David Bowie, which was based on the experiences of Sir Laurens van der Post, a prisoner of war in Java during World War II.

Check out Kraftwerk’s version of ‘Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence’ below:

Kraftwerk cover “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence” in tribute to Ryuichi Sakamoto at Fuji Rock 2024 pic.twitter.com/BknIo3TsRp

— Patrick St. Michel (@mbmelodies) July 27, 2024

Sakamoto died in March 2023 at the age of 71, having been diagnosed with cancer for the second time in a decade. Sakamoto was originally diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, which is now in remission, but shared details of a rectal cancer in 2021.

A posthumous album, ‘Opus’, is set to be released on August 9. The album was taken from a “final, private piano concert” which the musician performed back in 2022 at his NHK 509 Studio in Tokyo. ‘Opus’ features reworked and reimagined songs from Sakamoto’s career such as film scores and songs from Yellow Magic Orchestra.

‘Opus’ captures Sakamoto’s final concert performance which was completed across multiple sessions due to the musician’s declining health. His son, Neo Sora, filmed the sessions and compiled them into a documentary of the same name. The film will premiere online this  Sunday (June 30) at 8pm EST (1am BST) on the Criterion Channel. After the streaming premiere, the documentary will be available exclusively on the Criterion Channel.

In a five-star review of the documentary, NME shared: “It’s one gut-punch after another when you realise what it means as Sakamoto lets every note breathe until it fades out. The work presented is an opus, and this is as intimate and human a concert film as you’ll ever see. As with his recent posthumous mixed-reality gigs in London and his final film score on Monster, Opus is yet another priceless gift from a once-in-a-lifetime talent – and a reminder of what we’ve lost. Goodbye maestro – and thank you.”